Masahiro Tanaka had seven productive seasons with the Yankees

Masahiro Tanaka signed a big free agent contract with the Yankees before the 2014 season. He lived up to his contract by pitching very well in the playoffs and being a consistent performer with occasional greatness in the regular season.

The Yankees opted to sign two pitchers for the price that it would have been to sign Tanaka. During the offseason it was rumored that he was either going to sign with the Yankees or pitching once again in Japan, and pitch in Japan is what he has decided to do.

It did seem like it would be wise for the Yankees to bring back Tanaka on a one-year contract with a 2020 option given his success in 2020 and how well he has pitched in the playoffs. However, once they signed Corey Kluber and then traded for Jameson Taillon on January 24, it was obvious that Tanaka would not be back.

There have been rumors that Tanaka decided to go back to Japan for one-year because of the Covid situation in the United States and then might pitch again in MLB in 2022. On January 28, after his seven seasons with the Yankees, Tanaka announced that he will pitch for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Nippon Professional Basketball League. This was the team he pitched for before coming to pitch for the Yankees.

“I have decided to return to Japan and play for the Rakuten Eagles for the 2021 season,” Tanaka wrote on Twitter. “I wanted to make sure and touch base with you, and thank you for all the love and support you have given me for the past 7 seasons. I feel extremely fortunate for having the opportunity to take the field as a member of the New York Yankees, and play in front of all you passionate fans. it has been an honor and a privilege! Thank you so much!!"

He just completed the 7-year, $155 million contract that he signed with the Yankees after he was posted by the Golden Eagles prior to the 2014 season. He got a lot of hype and was never quite the ace he was in Japan for a long period of time, but he was the team’s ace in his first season.

In 2014, he had an outstanding 2.77 ERA in in 20 starts while also having 13 wins, three complete games, 15 homers allowed, a 1.056 WHIP, 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings and a very solid 3.04 FIP. He was an All-Star this season and finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting.

His Yankees teammate Dellin Betances finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting last season with an outstanding 1.40 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 70 games.

Tanaka pitched impressively given his arm issues since 2014. Towards the beginning of the 2014 season, he suffered a partially torn UCL in his right elbow but this somewhat miraculously never led to Tommy John surgery. He went through about six weeks of rehab in 2014 and then was ready to go.

He was a warrior of a pitcher, giving the team lots of effort and the Yankees could usually rely on him in a big game. The Yankees gave their prized 6–3 righty an extra day or two between starts whenever they could between starts. He earned $22 million in salary in 2018 and 2019 and then last season he earned $23 million in his final season playing in Yankee pinstripes.

Tanaka was worse than 2014 in 2015, but he was still solid with a 3.51 ERA and a 0.994 WHIP in 24 starts (154 innings). Then, in 2016, he finished seventh in Cy Young voting with a great 3.07 ERA, 1.077 WHIP, a 140 ERA+ and 165 strikeouts in a career-high 199.2 innings.

He had his worst season in the MLB in 2017, but then he bounced back in 2018 with 3.75 ERA, 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings, a 1.128 WHIP and 159 strikeouts and 156 innings.

Tanaka was an All-Star in 2019 but overall he did not have a good season as he finished with a 4.45 ERA in 32 games (31 starts).

In his seven seasons, he had a solid 3.74 ERA, 78 wins, 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings, a 3.91 FIP, a 1.130 WHIP, 114 ERA+ and 991 strikeouts in 1,054.1 innings pitched.

His stats were much better in the playoffs for the Yankees, which makes it disappointing that he was not able to win a World Series with the Yankees. It is likely that the Astros cheating in 2017 prevented the Yankees from winning the World Series that year since the Yankees faced off against the Astros and lost 4–3. Tanaka did all he could to get the Yankees to the World Series in 2017 as he had 1.38 ERA in two starts against Houston.

Overall in the playoffs, in eight different series across five seasons, he had a very solid 3.33 ERA in 10 starts with a 0.981 WHIP and 44 strikeouts in 54 innings. That ERA would be much better if not for allowing six runs in four innings in the AL Wild Card round in 2020 and then five runs in four innings in the ALDS in 2020.

In four starts combined in the ALCS (in 2017 and 2019, he very impressively had a 1.88 ERA and 0.708 WHIP but he only got the win in two of those starts.

Prior to joining the Yankees, Tanaka had a 2.30 ERA and 99–35 record in seven seasons with Rakuten.